Wareesha samad TS-004

Maha khan TS-021

Syeda Anmol hassan raza TS-028
Ayesha Cheema TS-029

LINEN FABRIC
INTRODUCTION:

Flax(also known as common flax or linseed), with the binomial name linum usitatissimum is a
member of the genus linum in the family linaceae. It is a food and and fibre crop that is grown in the
cooler regions of the world.

CULTIVATION:

• The soils most suitable for flax, besides the alluvial kind, are deep loams and containing a
large proportion of organic matter. Flax is often found growing just above the waterline in
cranberry bogs.
• Heavy clays are unsuitable, as are soils of a gravelly or dry sandy nature. Farming flax
requires few fertilizers or pesticides. Within 8 weeks of sowing, the plant will reach 10-
15cm(3.9-5.9) in height and will grow several centimetres per day under its optimal growth
conditions, reaching 70-80cm within 15 days.
HARVESTING:

• Flax is harvested for fibre production after approximately 100 days, or a month after the
plant flowers and 2 weeks after the seed capsules form.
• Flax is ready to be harvested for its fibres when the stem begins to turn yellow and the seed
turns brown.
• The stems of the flax plant are preferably pulled up with the root system somewhat intact,
rather than cut at the base. This maximizes the quality of the fibre in several ways. First, the
valuable fibres run the length of the stalk all the way into the roots, so pulling up the plant
by the root increases the length of the fibre produced.
• Although the agricultural industry has made great strides in mechanized farming, machina
harvesting of flax is still unable to preserve the root system of harvest.
• Fabric made from hand-harvested flax is finer, more supply, and more highly prized than
fabric made from flax that is machine-harvested.

There are two ways for harvesting.

1-MECHANICAL:
• The mature plant is cut with mowing equipment, similar to hay harvesting and raked into
windrows. When dried sufficiently, combine then harvest the seeds similar to wheat or oat
harvesting.

2-MANUAL:
• The mature plant is pulled up with the roots so as to maximize the fibre length. After this,
the flax is allowed to dry, the seeds are removed and then retted.
• Depend upon climatic conditions, characteristics of the sown flax and fields, the flax remains
on the ground between two weeks and two months for retting.
• As a result of alternating rain and sun, an enzymatic action degrades the pectins which binds
fibre to the straw. When the straw is retted and sufficiently dry then rolled up.
PROCESSING:
Before the flax fibres can be spun into linen, they must be separated from the rest of the stalk. The
first step in this process is called retting. Retting is the process of rotting away the inner stalk, leaving
the outer fibres intact. The second step is dressing.

a-RETTING:
It is the process employing the action of bacteria and moisture on plants to dissolve or rot away
much of the cellular tissues and gummy substances surrounding bast-fibre bundles, thus facilitating
separation of the fibre from the stem.

Basic methods include dew retting and water retting.

b-DRESSING:
dressing the flax is the process of removing the straw from the fibres. It consists of three steps;
breaking, scutching and heckling.

I. BREAKING:
• The process of breaking breaks up the straw into short segments. To do it, take the
bundles of flax and untie them.
II. SCUTCHING:
• In order to remove some of the straw from the fibre, it helps to swing a wooden
scutching knife down the fibres while they hang vertically, thus scrapping the edge
of the knife along the fibres and pull away the pieces of the stalk. Some of the fibres
will also be scutched away, this cannot be helped and is a normal part of the
process.
III. HECKLING:
• In this process, the fibre is pulled through various different sized heckling combs or
heckle.
• Heckle is a bed of nails sharp, long-tapered, tempered, polished steel pins driven
into wooden blocks at regular spacing.

SPINNING:

• By laying the ends of the bundle on top of one another, a sliver is formed and pulled through
needle comb panels. Repeated doubling and stretching creates a uniform fibre tape.
• This is then processed on the pre-spinning machine to create a spun roving thread that is as
fine as possible.
 • It is the processed on the spinning machine, fine linen thread needs to be spun wet. Only
coarse thread from tow can be spun dry, and medium-rough thread must be spun semi-wet.

WEAVING:

• Linen yarn is generally woven into sheets, a process where in multiple threads are interlaced
both horizontally and vertically on a loom. Occasionally, linen yarn is also knit, or formed
into fabric by creating consecutive rows of loops that intertwine with one another. By virtue
of these loops, knit fabrics have a degree of stretch inherent in them, and because linen yarn
has no elasticity, it is quite difficult to knit and so more frequently.

PRETREATMENT:
1. DESIZING/SCOURING:
Scouring is a chemical washing process carried out on cotton or linen material to remove
natural wax and non-fibrous impurities from the fibres and any added dirt to ensure a good
quality base for processing.
2. BLEACHING:
It improves whiteness by removing natural colouration and remaining trace impurities from
the cotton or linen material.
3. MERCERIZING:
The fabric is treated to improve lustre, strength and dye affinity. Other chemical treatments
maybe applied to cotton fabrics to produce low flammability, crease resist and other special
effect.
4. SINGEING:
Singeing is designed to burn off the surface fibres from the fabric to produce smoothness for
onward processing or printing.
 5. DYEING:
After treatment, dye is applied directly to the substrate in a neutral or alkaline bath. The
direct dyes adhere to the fabric molecules without help from others chemicals, supporting
our environmental policy. they produce full shades on cotton, linen, silk, wool and rayon.
Direct dyes give bright shades and because we can apply various after-treatments the dyes
are considered wash-fast level 4.
6. HOT REACTIVE DYES:
It is the formation of covalent bonds with the substrate to be colored. Once the bond is
formed, what you have is one molecule, as the dye molecule has become an actual part of
the cellulose fibre molecule.

STITCHING:
When a fabric is weaved it then goes to the stitching process, it is stitched according to the apparel
requirement.

PROPERTIES:

PHYSICAL:
LENGTH: The average length of flax fiber varies from 90-125 centimeters. The length of individual
fiber cells varies from 6-65 mm with an average diameter of 0.02mm.
COLOR: Brownish, ivory, grey, light, yellowish.
TENSILE STRENGTH: Tenacity varies from 6.5 to 8 gm/denier.
ELONGATION: Elongation at break is approximately 1.8 % (dry) and 2.2% (wet).
Specific gravity: 1.54

EFFECT OF MOISTURE: M.R = 12% (std)

EFFECT OF HEAT: Highly resistant to decomposition up to 120C. The fibers begin to discolor after
crossing temperature limit. Heat conductance is good.

CHEMICAL:
EFFECT OF ACIDS: flax fiber is easily damaged by high concentrated acids. But it is not affected by
low dense acids if washed immediately.

EFFECT OF ALKALIS: Flax fiber has an excellent resistance to alkalis. It is not degraded by strong
alkalis.

EFFECT OF BLEACHES: Cool chlorine and hypo chloride bleaches doesn’t affect flax fiber.
DYES: It is not suitable for dyeing. But it can be dyed by direct or vat dyes.
WASHING:
HOW TO WASH LINEN:

• Linen items can be both hand washed and machine washed - either of these methods are
fine and won't stretch or shrink the linen. If there is damage during wash, it may be related
to the quality of fabric or chemicals involved.

MACHINE WASH:

• Separate white, dark, and colored linens. For best results, wash them separately from other
fabrics. Wash the linen garment in moderate warm water (<40°C/104°F). High temperatures
may cause shrinkage of upto 10% and can weaken the linen fiber. Use the gentle machine
cycle and don't overload your washing machine. Use mild detergent formulated for delicate
fabrics. Do not bleach.
• Pre-washed linen items can be easily machine ( tumble ) dried on low heat.
• To iron a linen fabric, use medium-hot iron on the fabric while it's slightly wet or overlay it
with a damp towel.

Wash the linen garment in moderate warm water (<40°C/104°F).

Use mild detergent formulated for delicate fabrics. Do not bleach.

To iron a linen fabric, use medium-hot iron on the fabric while it's slightly wet or
overlay it with a damp towel.

Pre-washed linen items can be easily machine ( tumble ) dried on low heat.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, BONDS, STRUCTURE :

Chemical composition of different compounds is given below:

Cellulose : 75%
Hemicellulose : 5%
Lignin : 4%
Fat/Wax : 3%
Ash : 0.5%
Water : 12.5%
Like most other natural fibers flax mostly consists of cellulose. Long chains of cellulose are created
via β-1, 4 linkage. The degree of polymerization is 18000 (average) cotton has 5000. So, flax has a
longer polymer chain than cotton. Every chain of flax consists of 18000 cellulose units which is 18000
micrometers long and 8.8 nanometer thick.
END USES:
Linen blends such as linen-cotton or linen-synthetic (polyester and rayon) are also used in different
areas of apparel manufacturing
FOR APPAREL: Linen based apparel has been preferred for its aesthetic look and is used for making
women dresses, pants, hats, jackets, blazers, nightwear, lingerie and underwear. Linen is a fashion
fabric that is widely used by fashion designers and stylists. The thick and thin fibre bundles present
in the structure of linen gives it a quite distinct structure
HOME TEXTILES: Linen is used for making curtain/draperies, table cloth, handkerchief, napkins,
hand and bath towels, pillow covers and bedsheets
INDUSTRIAL TEXTILES: Covers for the gun, car seat covers, painting canvas are some applications of
linen fabric in the industry.
Apart from these apparel applications, flax fibre has a wide potential in the area of industry in the
form of nonwovens and geotextiles.
Reference links:
Report link: Namrata Dhirhi*, Rajshree Shukla, Nirmala Bharti Patel, Hemant Sahu and Nandan
Mehta Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, I.G.K.V., Raipur - 492 012 (C. G.), India.
Other links: https://www.yarnsandfibers.com/textile-resources/natural-fibers/plant-cellulosic-fibers-
natural-fibers/linen-flax/linen-consumption/what-are-the-end-uses-of-linen/

http://www.wmclark.co.uk/finishing/

https://magiclinen.com/how-to-wash-linen